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Lowell's Tulley preparing to take the next big step

By Carmine Frongillo, cfrongillo@lowellsun.com

Updated:
07/19/2013 09:40:24 AM EDT

Matt Tulley delivers a pitch during a recent game for the Nashua Silver Knights. The former Lowell High star will head into his sophomore year at Virginia Tech with plans to make a big impact for the Hokies. COURTESY PHOTO

NASHUA, N.H. -- The fastball still hums along consistently between 88 and 92 miles per hour.

Whenever he takes the hill, Matt Tulley has proven to be a mound of trouble for opposing batters, as this hard-throwing right-hander is seemingly always in control of his emotions, pitches and ultimately the game.

Tulley is bigger, stronger and a bit more baseball savvy after his freshman year at Virginia Tech, but other than that he possesses the same nasty stuff he did during his stellar varsity baseball career at Lowell High School.

He has the natural ability and mental makeup necessary to become a dominating pitcher in the talent-rich ACC. But this past spring, Tulley's ears and eyes were his most important physical attributes, during a season that saw him pitch only one inning for Virginia Tech.

Tulley watched, listened and learned what Division 1 college baseball in one of the toughest conferences in the country is all about. Virginia Tech finished the season with a 40-22 record, making it to the final of an NCAA Regional it hosted before losing to Oklahoma.

"It was tough not playing, but the positive was I made the travel team and was able to watch every game and learn, so I benefited from that," said Tulley, a former three-time MVC Division 1 Player of The Year. "Things just didn't work out this year. A lot of guys came back that they weren't expecting. Not a lot of the young guys got a chance. There were a lot of older guys this season, and that means a lot of spots are opening up next year.

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Tulley is preparing for his return to Virginia Tech by pitching for the Nashua Silver Knights in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) this summer. A fixture in the Knights rotation, he is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings over 5 starts.

At Lowell High, Tulley compiled a career record of 20-2 with a 1.57 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 140 innings.

"I'm sure it was a tough adjustment for him this season," said Silver Knights manager J.P. Pyne. "When you are as highly-touted a high school player as he was and you go into a situation where you aren't the guy, it was probably his first taste of adversity on the baseball field. So I was interested in seeing how he was going to be mentally. Was he going to be bitter or frustrated? A lot of guys in similar type of situations come back home and say I'm transferring. I'm out of there.

"What he's shown me here is that he's dedicated to improving and developing. He's pitched well for us. He has a fastball that not a lot of guys in this league have -- not a lot of people period have. He can get into the 90s and locate it. Pitching is a process and he's still learning. Having not pitched much this spring, he'll get into some funks in the middle innings where his control will kind of abandon him.

"The more he pitches, the more his confidence grows. Anyone can play this game when everything is coming to you easy. When the going gets tough, if you can roll up your sleeves and get through five or six innings and give your team a chance to win that's a complete pitcher and he's starting to do that and understand that."

At 6-feet, 210-pounds, Tulley is a power pitcher who can paint the corners. The fastball is his out pitch, but he is working hard at refining his curveball and changeup.

"I know for a fact if I want to pitch next season I have to find a secondary pitch that I can throw for a strike 100-percent of the time," said Tulley. "If I can do that, I will have a really good shot of starting (at Virginia Tech).

"You need two really good pitches and a third pitch you can mix in for a strike every now and then. You have to give hitters at that level a lot of different looks."

Tulley is a team first player, who is willing to pitch in any role that's asked of him at Virginia Tech.

"I think what makes him so valuable to a team is he can be effective as a reliever or starter," said Pyne, who is the head baseball coach at Daniel Webster College. "He's a power guy who if used in relief can get you out of a situation with a strike out. He can get you out with a ground ball, too.

"But I can also see him starting because he's in great shape and he's a worker. There isn't a big drop off in velocity or his stuff from the first inning to the sixth inning. I think a lot of the credit goes to him. Although he was used in a reduced role this spring, he clearly continued to work hard at Virginia Tech and showed up here ready to pitch."

Virginia Tech head coach Pete Hughes took the head job at Oklahoma last month. Assistant Pat Mason, who served as the Hokies' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, has been promoted to the head job at Virginia Tech.

"(Coach Mason) was the one who recruited me so it kind of worked out," said Tulley. "I want to finish up strong here. It's definitely good to be back out there. Pitching weekly feels great. Every time I pitch I try and get better and stay confident while trying to get ready for pitching in the ACC next year."

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